Horseshoe-nail



T. DOYLE. Horseshoe Nail.

No. 233,334. Patented Oct. 19,1880.

I F131. al #HI NPEI'ERS, PHOTO-UTHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D C

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS DOYLE, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

HORSESHOE-NAIL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 233,334, dated October19, 1880.

' Application filed September 19, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS DOYLE, of the city and county of SanFrancisco, in the State of California, have invented an ImprovedHorseshoe-Nail; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings.

The object of my invention is to provide a horseshoe-nail that willdrive easier, make a smaller hole in the wall of the hoof, and be lessliable to turn than the ordinary horseshoe-nail.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of myimproved nail. Fig. 2 is an edge view of the same, and Fig. 3 is acorresponding view thereof inverted.

Let A represent the head, and B the shank, of a horseshoe-nail. The headA, I make in the form of a pentagon. This form of head is not new, butit is better adapted for driving than the usual broad-faced head,because the corners are removed, and the blow of the hammer is directlyin line with the length of the nail. There is, therefore, less liabilityof the nail being bent and driven to one side. The remainder of the nailI make tapering from its junction with the head to the point, withaslight variation, as hereinafter pointed out. This makes it driveeasier, because its entrance into the wall of the hoof is more gradual,and it continually becomes tighter as it is driven in.

In some instances the nail has been tapered onlynear the point, and thetaper is abrupt, while the shank is of the same size from the swell,where the taper ceases, to the head, and in some instances it is madenarrower near the head than at the swell. This abrupt taper in theordinary nail causes it to drive hard, and the sudden entrance of thewedge-shaped point has a tendency to crack or split the wall of thehoof. Besides this the nail is liable to become loose in the hoof,because the swell makes a larger hole than the shank will fill. My nail,however, gets tighter every blow that is given to it until it iscompletely driven home.

The corners of the nail on the side that faces outward I remove eitherby bevelin g or rounding them oh. I prefer to bevel them off, becausethe bevel leaves sharp corners that aid in keeping the nail in place.This gives the outside face of the nail a larger area of surface, and atthe same time reduces the volume of metal, so that the nail will make asmaller hole, yet it will have a better bearing in the hoof.

The bevel of the corners. it will be noticed, terminates near the head,leaving a rectangular or square portion, a; but when the nail is drivenhome the square portion at around the base of the nail-head will fit inthe nail-hole in the shoe and be firmly fixed, so that it can not turn.By this construction the tapering and beveled portion of the nail entersthe wall of the hoof, while the square portion near the head fits in themetal of the shoe.

One side of the nail is made flat, as at B, with the projecting portionof the head and the bevel of the point formed on said side, while theopposite side is beveled off on both its edges, as at b I). The flatside faces inward when the nail is being driven, and the beveled sidefaces outward, so that the displacement of the wall of the hoof causedby the entrance of the nail takes place outwardly. This leaves theportion of the wall inside of the nail intact without danger of forcinga ridge inwardly against the foot.

The hole made by this nail is smaller than that made by the ordinaryhorseshoe-nail, and it will close together faster and much more readilybecause, the outer side being beveled off, it makes a hole that isalmost triangular.

This nail is driven so easily that the blows are hardly felt by thehorse, and there is no danger of pricking him, as the flat inner sidealways keeps the point of the nail directed outward. The nail graduallyincreases in thickness and strength from its point to its head, so thatas it enters the hoof the danger of its bending decreases. This nail isalso easier clinched and makes a neater job than the ordinary nail.

One great and important feature of my invention, however, is that itputsaless amount of metal in the wall of a horses hoof, and at the sametime it makes a more reliable fastening for the shoe, because the wallis less distorted and has a better chance to hold the nail than if alarger amount of metal was driven into the same thickness of wall.

These nails can be readily made by machinpered from head to point, theprojecting porery such as I have now in course of construction of thehead and the bevel of the point tion, and which I shall hereafter seekto secure formed on the said flat side, substantially as to myself byLetters Patent. and for the purpose set forth.

Having thus described myinvention,what I In witness whereof I havehereunto set my 15 claim, and desire to secure by Letters Pathand andseal.

ent, is THOMAS DOYLE. [L. s.]

As an improvement in horseshoe-nails hav- Witnesses: ing shanks madeflat on one side and beveled ofl' WM. F. CLARK, 10 on both edges of theopposite side and ta- JNO. R. BOONE. 1

